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Honda Goldwing
Honda goldwing is an iconic touring bike made by Honda. GL1000 The first Goldwing was unveiled at the cologne show in October 1974, Honda decided to abandon the flat-six engine, and pursue the grand tourer with the more compact flat four engine of 999 cc capacity. It was water-cooled, had belt-driven single overhead camshafts, four 32 mm constant-vacuum carburetors, a five speed gearbox, and a shaft drive to the rear wheel and had a weight of 226 lbs. The rear fork was integrated with the shaft drive, which carried a universal joint at his front end and a bevel box at the rear. Up front were telescopic forks with hydraulic damping. Spoke wheels were fitted, with a 3.50x19 inch tire on the front and an unusual 4.50x17 inch size tire on the rear wheel. The GL 1000 featured engine dimensions of 72mm x 61,4mm compression ratio was 9:2:1 Power output was 80 bhp. Wheelbase was 60.5 inches for optimum straight-line stability and his weight was 635 lbs filled up with all the fluids. The Tank was a dummy, filled with electronics, and air filter, the real tank was under the buddy seat. It could hold 19 liters or 5 (US) gallon. The original GL1000 Gold Wing, powered by a 999cc liquid-cooled horizontally opposed four-cylinder engine, revolutionized motorcycle touring. The faux fuel tank contains electrical components and storage space. Spoked aluminum rims are standard. Note the black exhaust system, with chrome heat shields and tailpipes. GL1100 The GL 1100 was an all-new motorcycle. There was a lot of competition from the Yamaha XS 1100 and the Kawasaki Z 1300, so Honda had to come with more then just a facelift and a little extra displacement. It was the first Goldwing with an factory supplied fairing, because Honda realized that about 80% from all the wings had aftermarket fairings installed. The left pocket had room for an optional radio/stereo/intercom system, including the loudspeakers. The Aspencade in 1982 came standard with an AM/FM stereo cassette and had an onboard air compressor. Most of the changes were to the brakes, wheels and suspension, the unified braking system (UBS) was the most significant. The hand brake lever controlled the left disc, and the brake foot pedal controlled the right front and rear brake simultaneously. GL1200 The Honda Goldwing GL 1200 featured an all new engine, but has a lot in common with the previous design, only the fuel and oil pumpswere taken from the old engine. Capacity was bigger up to 1182 cc stroke was 66 to 75.5mm, A quartet of 32 mm Keihin carburetors squirted fuel trough larger 36 mm inlet valves into a combustion chamber with more efficient cylinder head design. Modified valve timing with longer valve lift duration and computerized ignition contributed to an increased output to 94 bhp at 7000 rpm. Improved handling was also sought by dragging back and lowering the steering head. Like all the previous wings cornering clearance was limited. Enthusiastic drivers had the footrest soon at the floor, but fortunately they were flexible enough to raise a little, mine were after 5 years of enthusiasm almost gone (the rubber that is) Radio and cassette player were on board, and the luxury types had an compressor to raise the shocks. The torque of the bike was good enough for not shifting gears to often, if you had a lazy touring day. Some problems were risen with the alternator which was a weak point of this bike, but I must say, I never had any trouble, you had to keep the connections clean, so that the power flow was not interrupted. GL1500 The Honda GL1500 Goldwing was announced for the 1988 model year. It's arrival came at a time when Kawasaki's Voyager, Suzuki's Cavalcade and the Yamaha Venture Royale had started to challenge the GL1200 Goldwing. Unfortunately, these challengers, while being great machines in their own way, concentrated on adding more in the way of luxuries to their machines and had they attended to the real needs of a touring bike, such as reducing weight and improving handling, there is no doubt that they would have been a real threat to the Honda flagship. Nonetheless, by 1987 the touring market was decidedly crowded and Honda had been working on the next Goldwing for a few years. The result of their efforts was an astounding machine that looked, handled and felt light years ahead of any touring motorcycle to date, period. Younger riders looking at the GL1500 twelve years later cannot really appreciate it's impact when it arrived. This monster had a silky smooth six-cylinder engine that pulled like a train, a reverse gear and it's appearance was years ahead of it's time with a design that in spite of being the heaviest Wing to date, actually felt lighter and did the job a lot better than before. Such was the impact that the GL1500 had on the opposition that it ruled almost unopposed for more or less it's whole production life, in spite of receiving few real improvements over the years. The late 90's seen the only real threat to the Goldwing, BMW's KLT1200 and in true Honda fashion, the 1800 Goldwing made it's appearance in time to set the standard for touring motorcycles once again. GL1800